Latest government figures show how tough the job market has been for graduates. While unemployment rises to its worst level in 14 years, the total of 16-24 years olds out of work is approaching the one million mark. The class of 2010 will have to compete with graduates who could not secure paid employment in the two previous years, a phenomenon dubbed the ‘domino effect’. Anger seems to be building up as Youth Fight for Jobs prepare for a mass demonstration in London on November 28th.

Many businesses have introduced a graduate freeze, signifying a shortfall of entry-level jobs. A survey conducted by High Fliers Research established that vacancies for graduates have been cut by over a fifth since 2007. According to the 2009 Cambridge Careers Service Report, this is affecting graduate recruitment activity across all sectors. Of course those not immediately affected (such as accounting and law) are experiencing huge increases in graduate applications, and competition is getting fierce.

According to the report, some former Cambridge students have seen their offers of employment either delayed or withdrawn completely, meaning a number of those successful in the two previous recruitment rounds lost their jobs before they’d even started. Those who came back to the Careers Service to look for alternatives were disappointed, as later opportunities had already been filled up, six to eight months earlier than in previous years.

But perhaps the scariest prospect for students this Halloween will be filling in phantom applications. A shocking revelation explained in the Careers Report: “There is a tendency in recessionary times for employers to maintain a presence ‘on campus’ simply to keep the ‘pilot light burning’. Students can waste hours applying for phantom jobs. Similarly, before our Internships Event, we asked every visiting organisation for their assurances that they were genuinely recruiting for summer interns.”

Gordon Chesterman, Director of the Cambridge Careers Service, predicts a good future, with “green shoots of recovery…and a forest of good-looking graduate opportunities”. He also told Varsity that “some students refuse to adjust their expectations and to accept near-neighbouring alternatives: last year, some held out for the £45,000 starting salaries, and failed, while some took too much notice of all the bad press and simply gave up.”

Recruiters still seem to favour Cambridge students. The Careers Service Report writes that while “graduate-level opportunities [in these areas] advertised nationally have slumped by some 70%,” the Careers Service’s Vacancy Online listings for such jobs have only seen a ten per cent decrease.

But students are being cautioned to decide carefully on where to plant their roots before trying to blossom, and they are heeding the advice. The Careers Report indicated that student turn-outs to the Banking and Finance Event were down by 18% and those for the Property Event by 45%. Final-year Cambridge students seem to be directing their interest towards other alternatives, namely law, accountancy, and further education.

Generally, 40 to 45 per cent of first-degree Cambridge graduates go on to do postgraduate degrees. This year’s Careers Service Report reveals that by January 2009, a 13 per cent increase in graduate applications had already been noted.

The two sectors that actually stepped up their graduate vacancies last year were the armed forces and the public sector. Indeed not all news is bad: average graduate salaries have risen from £25,500 to £27,000 for 2009. The highest starting salary was offered by the German supermarket chain Aldi, with an impressive 40K plus an Audi A4. A Leeds metropolitan graduate with a 2:1 in business studies, Kate McGrath, was their successful candidate last year.

On ‘Budget Day’, October 14th, unemployment figures were shown to have stabilised, prompting the national press to herald the end of the recession. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures released October 23rd confounded widespread hope, as the economy unexpectedly continued to shrink for the sixth consecutive quarter between July and September, with a shock 0.4% drop in gross domestic product (GDP).

Youth unemployment is notably worse in America, exploding to 52.2 per cent among 16-24 year old’s. In New York, angry graduate Trina Thompson sued her business-oriented Bronx school for $70,000 in tuition fees, telling the New York Post: “They have not tried hard enough to help me”.

In contrast, the Cambridge Careers Service came top in a survey undertaken at 260 universities across Europe, the UK and the US for student satisfaction. Mr Chesterman explains: “Lots of new kids on the block are recruiting at Cambridge for the first time and there are more overseas vacancies: we’re working hard to hunt these down. Some firms are only recruiting at Cambridge – thanks to our ties with alumni passing us good-looking graduate jobs in their companies.” The results explain the level of student satisfaction: “We were able to promote more vacancies to our student users last year compared to the year before – 5,135 compared to 4,666 (Oct to Sept).”

The government has introduced various measures, such as the Future Jobs Fund, to curb the rising state dependency of “the lost generation”. The NEET, Not in Education, Employment or Training, are obviously the most affected group in this category. Whether measures taken to introduce a system of internships and encourage work experience for graduates abroad will help ‘Generation Y’ remains to be seen.